Buffy

I am proud to say I spotted Buffy the Vampire Slayer and was alert to her potential long before the hype kicked in. I even saw the horrible, horrible movie with Kristy Swanson. The TV show, at least for a few seasons, was freaking hot. When Eliza Dushku showed up as Faith, and the two of them ran around Sunnydale in their low-slung leather pants, I cursed the indifferent Creator who hadn't made me a vampire, a naughty, naughty vampire, in southern California.

What was weird to me was how unspoken it all was -- certainly there were plenty of magazine pictures of Sarah Michelle Gellar in leather, or holding a riding crop (thank you, FHM), but I don't remember seeing the words "female dominance" appear anywhere. It also helped usher in an era of strong women on TV, one of the best examples of which was Alias, which I am sure to write about at some point.